Fun for the little ones!!! -Highlands Ranch

While living in Highlands Ranch, you may experience on of Colorado's warm/mild, or cold/snowy winters... or perhaps a mixture of both-- which makes every flip-flopping day an adventure with parents and children.

Here are some ideas to keep your children active, and you sane! ;)

Highlands Ranch Community Association has a number of pools at their recreation centers. EastRidge and SouthRidge both have leisure indoor pools complete with slides! So stop fantasizing of summer, and get out in the water with your kids! Pools are obviously indoors, and heated!
http://www.hrcaonline.org

Douglas County has an awesome library system and you can always find a time for you and your child at story time! Pick a time that's age appropriate for your young children, or even school age kids at one of Douglas Counties libraries! it's always fun to spend time with them and while they're getting stimulated socially, by those their own age... PERFECT! If you have older kids, Douglas County offers creative writing classes for kids in 1st-6th grade and even a teen class is offered!
http://www.douglascountylibraries.org

If you've got young ones, Monkey Bizness is for those eager to walk, run or crawl with kids of a similar age. Adults are free, and it's $5 for those crawlers under a year old and only $7.50 for those over a year! Kids get a work out, create friends, and you can sit back, relax (the ground is awfully cushy,) let them run while you make friends and network with parents doing the same!

80% of homes in Highlands Ranch are located only a quarter mile away from Highlands Ranch city parks. With 70 miles of trails roaming through the city on a couple thousand acres of land, conveniently located in, well, what is basically your back yard-- there is plenty of wildlife and and new places to explore!

During the day, Chuck E Cheeses is extremely lonely. Located just off 470 and Quebec (there are locations in Aurora, Englewood and Denver too!) it's convenient to the Highlands Ranch area. You might think it's expensive, but it's relatively inexpensive if you have the resources! If you go to http://www.chuckecheese.com/ and sign up, you receive coupons each month-- often better than those in the Newspaper... leaving you pay less than $5 a person for a family of 4. You don't need to purchase food either! Let your kids run and work off some of that active energy, or climb in the tubes. Fun, and fairly inexpensive!

If you're thinking about taking your toddler(s) to the mall. Park Meadows offers a free "play" place for the youngsters.

If you prefer to look outside the area, you can find places like The Denver Zoo (http://www.denverzoo.org) or The Butterfly Pavilion (http://www.butterflies.org) and the many museums of Denver- Art, Fire Fighters, Nature and Science, Rail Road Museum and so many others! Don't be afraid to do a little research! Highlands Ranch and South Denver Metro, has so much to offer for you, your children and family fun!